In this episode, Joshua Yaffa speaks with Prince Zeid bin Ra’ad Zeid al-Hussein, one of the central architects of the modern international human rights system. From helping to establish the International Criminal Court to serving as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Prince Zeid has spent decades confronting the tension between moral ideals and political power.
At a moment when international law, human rights, and multilateral institutions appear increasingly fragile, he reflects on what these systems were actually built to do—and why they were never guaranteed to survive. The conversation explores fear, nationalism, authoritarianism, and the recurring cycles of history, but also the role diplomacy can still play in preventing societies from sliding into violence.
Prince Zeid speaks candidly about the realities of dealing with governments accused of abuses, the limits of international institutions, and the psychological burden of speaking on behalf of people suffering under war, repression, and injustice. He argues that human rights are not abstract ideals, but practical restraints designed to protect humanity from its own worst instincts.
The conversation also turns to the United States, the erosion of postwar norms, the rise of exclusionary politics, and the question of whether the current global order is entering a dangerous new phase. Throughout, Prince Zeid remains both unsentimental and deeply committed to the idea that diplomacy, when practiced skillfully, can still produce extraordinary outcomes.
Recorded at the Munich Security Conference in February 2026.
